Improvement in convertible cloaks and tents



IIhvrrnn rares ATENT rino.

W'ILLIAM B. JOHNS, OF GEORGETOWIN, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONVERTIBLE CLOAKS AND TENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,52S, dated October` 22, 1361.

T0 all whom, it may concer/L:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM Il. JOHNS, of Georgetown, in the county of lVashington and District of Columbia, have invented a new and Improved Military Equipment, which can be used for various purposes, such as a knapsack, a ten t, a military cloak, the.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the acccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

The said military equipment consists of a peculiarly-shaped and a peculiarly-furnished sheet, the form of which is clearly represented in the accompanying drawings, and which may be composed of canvas, india-rubber cloth, or any other suitable material. The peculiar shape of my said convertible military equipment enables it to be easily secured around a soldiers kit in such a manner as to form a knapsack of the most perfect proportions, as shown by Figure S, and when not required to serve as a knapsack the said equip ment forms a most perfect military cloak, as

shown by Fig. 9 of the drawings, while the single series of hooks e and the double series of eyes f, with which the said equipment is furnished, enable a number of the said articles to be combined with each other in such a manner as to form a tent of the shape represented by Fig. 2 of the drawings without the assistance of aught save what can be easily carried by the soldiers who are supplied with this improved convertible knapsack, as its weight is considerably less than that of the old style of military knapsack.

The rectangular portion A of my improved military equipment is composed of a single thickness of canvas, or of india-rubber cloth, with the exception ot' the border thereof for the depth of a few inches, which is double the thickness of the remaining portion ofsaid sheet. The cord m, which is secured between fthe double thicknesses of the material at each :side of the said military equipment, serves ithe purpose of adding such a degree of lengthwise strength thereto as will enable it to be safely used as a portion of a tent, as shown in Fig. 2.

The tent-pins h 7i, which confine the tent thatis formed of my improved military equipment, may pass through the eyelets in the angles of the rectangular portion of each equipment or through loops fb' t', that are permanently secured in the said eyelets, as shown in Fig. 2.

The triangular-shaped flap B, which is secured to one side ot the rectangular portion of my improved military equipment, serves the following purposes, viz: First, when four of said equipments are connected with each other and then converted into a tent by the aid of the jointed rods c d and the rope g, the said flaps B serve the purpose of closing the ends of said tent, as shown by Fig. 2, and when the said equipment is used by a soldier as a cloak by passing his head through the slitp therein,as shown by Fig. 9, the flap B serves as a protection to the breast of a soldier, and also as a protection to the lock por- I tion of the musket that may be carried by him.

The single series of hooks e are combined with. my improved military equipment in such a manner that the catching portions of said hooks project a short distance beyond one end and one side of the rectangular portion of said equipment, asshown in Fig. 1, while the double series, eyes ff are placed directly opposite each other on a line with the hooks e c and are secured to opposite sides of said equipment near to the inner edge of the lapped port-ion of the edge thereof, in the manner represented by Figs. I and 2. The manner of uniting four of the said military equipments by means of the aforesaid series of hooks e and the double series of eyes fj' into one continuous sheet is clearly shown by Fig. 2, and the manner of supporting thesaid connected equipments by means of the pairs of jointed rodscd and the rope g,so as to form a tent, is represented by Fig. 3.

The shape which I give to the bag which is to be used in connection with my improved military equipment is represented by Figs. 6 and 7, and the shape of the knapsaek produced by covering the said bag with my improved military equipment is clearly represented by Fig. 8. It will therefore be perceived that to enable any four of the soldiers of a marching regiment to at any time erect a tent of the character of that represented in the accompanying drawings all that it will be necessary for each of the said soldiers to carry,in addition to his knapsack, will be one pair of light jointed rods c d, or the rope g, or the set of tent-pins h h.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, s-

1. The addition of a triangular-shaped flap B to the reotangulaushaped body A of my improved Convertible military equipment when the said equipment has substantially the form and proportions shown in the aecompanyingr drawings.

2. lVhen my improved military equipment has substantially the shape represented in the accompanying' drawings, forming a slit p in said equipment in the position shown in said drawings, and for the purpose herein Set forth. 3. VVhlen my improved military equipment has subst'an tially the shape represented in the accompanying,` drawings, furnishing one end and one side of the rectangular portion thereof with a single series of hooks e e and a double series of eyes f f, substantially as represented in said drawings.

\VM. B. JOHNS. \Vitnesses:

W. DE B.' FRYER, RANDOLPH CoYLE, Jr. 

